


scent

by onceuponaplot



Series: 30 Day Writing Challenge - November 2014 [27]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 07:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2683730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onceuponaplot/pseuds/onceuponaplot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Writing Challenge Day 27/30</p>
<p>It’s luck that allows Steve to toss the man, mask flying away as he tumbles a few yards down the road and springs back onto his feet. He’s got his shield up and is readying himself to throw it when the other man turns. Bucky stares back at him, and it’s all Steve can do not to fall to his knees in shock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	scent

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [howl](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2634848) by [onceuponaplot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onceuponaplot/pseuds/onceuponaplot). 



When he catches it on the roof, Steve puts it down to stress. It makes sense – Steve’s home has been invaded, his territory threatened, and his brain is all jumbled from the clash of instincts that tell him to _chase_ and logic that keeps him from pursuing the attacker off the roof.

He can’t shake the feeling though, as he fights his way out of SHIELD and gains an ally in Natasha at the hospital, that it’s something more. The memory of the scent lingers in the back of his mind, cloying and indistinct, but so _familiar_ it makes his chest ache.

Steve reminds himself it’s not possible and forces the thoughts and feelings away, buries them deep so they don’t distract him from his new mission.

The bridge just makes it worse.

The scent hangs around the masked man like a cloud of smoke and as Steve fights him, the urge to _protect_ is so overwhelming Steve can barely keep from being pummeled into the ground.

It’s luck that allows Steve to toss the man, mask flying away as he tumbles a few yards down the road and springs back onto his feet. He’s got his shield up and is readying himself to throw it when the other man turns.

Bucky stares back at him, and it’s all Steve can do not to fall to his knees in shock.

His hair is longer, his face worn and covered in stubble, but his eyes – his eyes are all Bucky.

Steve’s shield slips from his lax fingers and clangs loudly as it hits the pavement by his feet. “Bucky?”

Even with the distance between them, Steve can make out the way Bucky’s nostrils flare and the man goes still. His mouth opens slightly a few seconds later and his chest swells as he breathes in deeply. The stillness sets Steve on edge, draws his wolf even closer to the surface. It’s already restless, has been howling and clawing at his chest ever since the Winter Soldier's – ever since _Bucky’s_ smell wound around him again.

“Bucky,” Steve calls and the other man twitches, narrows his eyes at Steve with a frown. “You know me.”

His voice is harsh, rough, when he shouts back, “Who the hell is Bucky?”

Steve is tired. His whole body aches, he’s sweaty and bleeding, and even from this far away the other man must be able to catch his scent.

He inches closer, step by slow step.

Bucky watches him.

“Bucky was my friend. Is my friend,” Steve says in reply. He telegraphs his every move, lets Bucky know every steps he’s about to take and keeps his hands in plain view at all times. Bucky lets him get a few yards away before he goes tense, takes his own careful steps back.

“I thought he was gone. But I was wrong. And I want-”

“Stop.”

Bucky stares at him like Steve’s some odd creature he’s never seen before, head tilting to change his viewing angle as he circles Steve at a pace that feels like a crawl. Steve forces himself not to react when Bucky darts in fast, crowds close behind Steve and breathes in near the base of Steve’s neck before he’s gone again, a careful distance between them.

“You know me,” Steve says again. His hands clench and unclench uselessly at his sides, his head turned just enough to see Bucky as he paces. “Bucky, please.”

“I’m not-”

Bucky stops, hackles raising and lips pulling back in a snarl, and Steve turns in time to see Sam and Natasha back by his shield. Sam’s got an arm around Natasha’s waist to support her as she presses a hand to her injured shoulder. They both look as exhausted as Steve feels, and both are scanning the surrounding area for remaining attackers.

“We’ve got to go. It won’t be long before agents get here,” Natasha warns, eyes flicking quickly between Steve and the Soldier. “Now, Steve.”

Bucky is still tense when Steve glances back at him, but he’s no longer snarling, hi mouth pressed into a thin line.

Steve takes a chance.

“They're friends. Come with us,” he offers. He holds his hand out to Bucky, palm up, and hopes.

Bucky doesn’t respond right away. Doesn’t even move. Just stares at Steve with untrusting eyes and looks back at Sam and Natasha. Anxious and desperate, a low whine escapes Steve’s chest before he can stop it.

Instantly, Bucky’s entire focus is on him again.

His question, when it comes, is quiet, almost scared. “I know you?”

Steve could almost laugh. “Yes,” he promises. “Yes, you know me. Come with us and I can prove it to you. Please.”

Still uncertain, “You’re my mission.”

“I’m your friend.”

He watches as Bucky mulls that over, rolling the words over and over in his head with something like disbelief etched over all his features.

Steve can’t put his relief into words when the other man finally nods.


End file.
